Tan talks moral ambiguity, absolute truth and creativity at TED

While Amy Tan shows the creative person’s tolerance for ambiguity in what she has to say, she was smart to give her mathematical disclaimer at the beginning of her talk to explain that she was talking about her personal process of creation. Every creative person comes from a different place, so Tan’s proclamation of moral ambiguity and lack of absolute truth works for her. Other creative people may believe that there is no moral ambiguity and that there is absolute truth. While the two positions and their innumerable positions along the continuum could be argued ad nauseum with no outcome, which some may point to as argument for the ambiguity in morals and the lack of absolute truth, the idea that this exists for every creative person is merely a poor excuse for not being reasonable confident that people create for many different reasons. When Tan talks about writing and her creative process, she is clear about the fact that this talk only covers her. For other people, it may be different. Tan speaks of several theories of creativity and offers personal examples of how she can see those theories in her life. However, most of this is tangential to Tan’s real reason for writing. Tan writes to deal with the ambiguity in life. She says that she begins with moral ambiguity and realizing that there are no absolute truths. She may find bits of truth but that is all she will be able to communicate in her writing. She says that there is uncertainty in everything, and that is good. It is possible that creation is the search for truth for every artist, writer or other creator. However, the judgment on whether or not that truth is absolute should not rest with those experiencing this mortal coil. Tan is able to use her curiosity, imagination and intention to find meaning in what she has to write. Through that meaning, she is able to convey to others a message that they probably didn’t know they were looking for. Human beings are story tellers. It is the story that makes us come to life. It is the story that sustains us. It is the story that defines us.